Emerald Island Crafts $45M FEMA request

EMERALD ISLE — The town plans to submit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency a request for about $45 million in reimbursement funds for damage caused by Hurricane Florence, $40 million of that to replace 2.2 million cubic yards of sand lost from the town’s 12-mile-long beach strand.

“That is a lot of money,” Town Manager Frank Rush said Tuesday night during a post-hurricane report he gave to residents and town commissioners at the board’s monthly session in the meeting room beside the police station on the north side of Highway 58.

“We received $13 million (in reimbursement money for sand lost in hurricanes) Isabel, Ophelia and Irene. But we’ll put in the claim.”

The remaining $5 million included in the claim comes in part from a variety of damages, such as an estimated $900,000 for public facilities, $195,000 to buildings, $158,000 to park facilities and $517,000 for beach access walkways, sound access walkways and piers.

Then there are expenses, such as an estimated $2 million or more for debris removal.

As of Tuesday, the town’s contractor had removed 105,000 cubic yards of debris, reportedly just 75 percent of the way through the contractor’s “first pass” through town. Read full article.

Shell’s recent success in the US Gulf of Mexico includes its deepwater Dover discovery on Mississippi Canyon 612, reported last year, near its Appomattox platform. The well was drilled by the Deepwater Poseidon ultra-deepwater drillship. Sources: Shell, Transocean.

In lieu of the traditional shovel groundbreaking, Miami City Commission chair Ken Russell, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami city manager Emilio T. Gonzalez (pictured l-r) perform the ceremonial water toss to mark the start of the first Miami Forever Bond project tackling flooding and sea-level rise. (Photo by City of Miami Office of Communications)